In both Cañon City and Fremont County, sales tax is up in 2014 compared to 2013. One thing that will surely help those numbers remain high is the opening of the Royal Gorge Bridge & Park, which was a main tourist attraction before it suffered heavily from the Royal Gorge Fire.

"Not having that draw of the bridge to get people to this area is a big deal," said Beth Katchmar, who owns Pizza Madness and Royal Gorge Brewing Co.

Royal Gorge Bridge & Park Public Relations Manager Peggy Gair said the company is still aiming for a opening at the end of August.

"It would be probably the very last week in August," she said. "We'll know more in the next couple weeks as construction progresses.

"We've got a good chance of hitting that. ... We think it's realistic, but you know how construction goes."

The park is open to people every weekend, and she said they've averaged about 1,000 people per weekend.

— Brandon Hopper

After the Royal Gorge Fire in June 2013, many predicted doom and gloom for local businesses. Without the much-sought-after tourism dollars flowing in, how could businesses survive?

Well, they have — pretty successfully in fact.

No one's quite sure why, but Cañon City Administrator Doug Dotson has a couple hunches, and he's getting ready to dissect the numbers more in the next month. He thinks there are two options: Either the marketing campaign post-fire is working really well, or that perhaps the area's economy doesn't depend on tourism as much as people thought. It's probably a mixture of both those reasons, he said.

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"I want to look at in more detail ... where are our sales tax revenues coming from?" Dotson said. "Are they coming from tourism, and granted we know that there is some amount of tourism dollars in this community, but is it really significant? Or are a lot of the dollars that we're spending here dollars that are spent from local residences (including people from surrounding towns)?"

The restaurant industry is one that would seem to be hurt a great deal by a lack of out-of-towners, but according to sales tax numbers provided by Cañon City Finance Director Harry Patel, they haven't suffered so far. Cañon City restaurants and bars have continued their steady growth. In eight of the past nine years, the industry has surpassed the previous year's sales tax brought in. Last year beat 2012's numbers by about $5,500 (.8 percent), and 2013 passed 2011 by about $37,000 (six percent).

So far this year, 2014 numbers are one percent ahead of where they were in 2013. January was the big month for the industry in Cañon City, but February, March and May all beat 2013 numbers for the same month. April was the only bad month. June numbers haven't been finalized yet.

The first quarter saw an increase of about 2.5 percent, and because of April, the second quarter is down by about 1.5 percent.

"We thought there was going to be a fall off on the sales tax after the fire," Fremont County Commissioner Tim Payne said. " There was a dip, but there wasn't a big fallout on that."

No one experiences the numbers more than restaurant owners themselves.

"Up until now, because of the festivals going on downtown, we've done OK," said Beth Katchmar, owner of Main Street restaurants Pizza Madness and Royal Gorge Brewing Co. & Restaurant. " ... Now I get the impression that we just don't have as many tourists here. It's just more local people. There are still a few groups coming."

Katchmar said her businesses are down about 30 percent from two years ago.

Outside of town at Eight Mile Hill, restaurants are happy with what they've seen so far in 2014.

"Last year, we were down about 15-20 percent," said Ty Seufer, owner of White Water Bar & Grill. "This year, we're right back to 2012 numbers as of right now at the bar and grill."

Seufer also owns Royal Gorge Zipline Tours and Royal Gorge Rafting, and those businesses filter people right into the restaurant. Those companies' numbers, Seufer said, are still down from 2012.

He expects a slight dip of about 10 percent of the rest of the summer for his restaurant.

"We're not going to go broke unless something drastic happens in the next 45 days," he said.

Andy Neinas' 8 Mile Bar & Grill is a different measuring stick. It's only in its fourth year of existence.

"We actually had a good year in the restaurant last year, that's the thing," Neinas said. "... The restaurant had its best year ever.

"We're up a bit over last year already."

Neinas also owns a rafting company, Echo Canyon River Expeditions, that helps feed people into his restaurant.

One thing that the three restaurant owners agree on is that the return of the Royal Gorge Bridge will certainly help their businesses.

"It's a given that the bridge, given its significance and its marketing clout, its ability to bring people in in such significant numbers has a secondary benefit to everybody in the community, not just dining," Neinas said.

He said that more people will shop, fuel up at gas stations and lodge overnight at area hotels, adding that 8 Mile Bar & Grill spends a lot more at local hardware stores and paint stores when its having a successful year.

"All sectors will be up," Neinas said, "when we see the return of a couple hundred thousand people a year."

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